Colin Merrin has lived and worked on the south coast since 2007. He was elected as a member of the Royal Watercolour Society in 2009. He works mainly with water based media on both canvas and paper, including collage.
On leaving art college I worked as an animation artist and freelance illustrator before teaching in schools and colleges and particularly working with students with special needs and mental health issues in East London. I have always been a working artist throughout this time. Alongside my paintings I have written an anthology of poems and free prose called ‘Silent Cacophony’. The book will be available at the end of 2026. I am also planning to make an animated film that will be ready for 2027.
Since 1981 I’ve had numerous solo and group exhibitions, across the UK and Europe mainly, but my work is in collections in the USA, Australia and West Asia as well as the royal collection and the British Museum.
My paintings blend memory and intuition. The work is generally unplanned and reliant on a spontaneous trial and error approach. The core motifs are the human face and figure, within which, ideas around the zeitgeist and its impact on the human condition are explored. Text and found poetry appears alongside drawn and painted imagery often referencing historical and political events, but I enjoy injecting a sense of absurdity into each piece, despite there often being a serious intent to the work. For example I deliberately juxtapose words, titles and images to explore possible meanings.
Events
2026
Storehouse No 9, Historic Dockyards. Group show
Newhaven Open Call, East Sussex
Whitcomb Street Gallery, permanent exhibition.
Gallery Downstairs, Islington, London. ‘Papercut’ Sedici group exhibition.
Bankside Gallery, London RWS group exhibition
Bankside Gallery, London. Summer exhibition
Open Studios, Art Space, Portsmouth.
Event Title
2025
Box Gallery, Southsea. Group show
Jack House Gallery, Portsmouth. Tribute exhibition for Derek Boshier
Open Studios, Art Space, Portsmouth.
Bankside Gallery, London. RWS summer exhibition
Bankside Gallery, London. ‘Tim Marlow Presents’
Portsmouth Cathedral, Group exhibition
Bankside Gallery, London. Small works
POSE, Portsmouth Guildhall
Apparatus Gallery, Deptford, London Sedici group exhibition
2024
Corner Collective, Southsea ‘Mud and Ink’ Collaboration with Lynn Nicholls
POSE Storehouse No 9, The historic dockyards, Portsmouth
Box Gallery, Southsea. October group show
Box Gallery, Southsea ‘Human Tides’ Collaborative exhibition with Joe Loughborough
Bankside Gallery, RWS group show
Beauport Gallery, Hastings. Pure Arts group show
The Art Hub, Deptford, London. Sedici Group show.
St Nic’s Gallery, Weymouth ‘Revolting Artists 2024’. Group show
Box Gallery, Southsea, Group Show
2023
Oxmarket Contemporary, Chichester West Sussex PO19 1YH ‘An Unspoken Discourse’ with Malcolm Crocker.
Bankside Gallery, London. RWS Autumn exhibition. ‘Risk’ October 6th – November 4th
Round Tower Studio, Hotwalls, Old Portsmouth Sunday 20th August Art Space Portsmouth Open Studios, July 1 -2
Whitcomb Street Gallery RWS, 3-5 Whitcomb Street WC2H 7HA June 7 -21
St Nic’s Gallery, Weymouth, Dorset ‘Revolting Artists’ April 7 – 10
Bankside Gallery, London. RWS Spring exhibition ‘Home’. March 24 – April 22
2022
Bankside Gallery, London Spring exhibition. March 25th – April 24th.
Art Space Portsmouth, ‘An Invented Existence’ May 18th – 22nd
Jack House Gallery, Portsmouth ‘ The Perilous Nature of Bloodymindedness’ July 6th – 20th.
2021
The Lightbox, Ambassador’s Gallery, with Geoffrey Pimlott
Bankside Gallery, London. ‘Mini Picture Show
Art Space, Portsmouth. Christmas Show.
Art Space, Portsmouth. Open Studio
Stable Gallery, Hampshire. The Sedici Group
Bankside Gallery, London Summer Exhibition
Bankside Gallery, London ‘Now and Then
2020
The Lightbox , Art Fund Gallery, Woking, Surrey ‘Crossroads’ with Geoffrey Pimlott.
Yellow Edge Gallery, Gosport, Hampshire. ‘Shout!
2019
Yellow Edge Gallery, Gosport, Hampshire ‘Presence’ solo exhibition
Green Man Gallery, Buxton. ‘Buxton Spa Painting Prize’
Bankside Gallery, London ‘Summer Exhibition’
Yellow Edge Gallery, Gosport, Hampshire. ‘8 at the Edge’ with Mike Bartlett, Pete Codling, Kevin Dean, Karl Rudziak, Sadie Tierney, Agata Wojcieszkiewicz and Chris Wood
Bankside Gallery, London ‘In the Studio’
Art Space, Portsmouth, ‘De-Figuration’ with Anne Shaw
Portsmouth Guildhall, with Gill Hawkins and Anne Shaw
2018
Bankside Gallery, London ‘Mini Picture Show’
Mall Galleries, London ‘The ING Discerning Eye 2018’
Bankside Gallery, London ‘The Colour of Water’
Art Space Open Studios, Portsmouth
Playdead Gallery, Southsea, Hants
GASP at Lakeside, Portsmouth, Hants
Bankside Gallery, London ‘RWS Spring Exhibition’
Bankside Gallery, London ‘New Year, New Work’
2017
Farindola International Arts Festival, Abruzzo, Italy. ‘Artist in Residence’
Bankside Gallery, London. ‘Water, Paper, Paint’
Kunstgalerie Carre d’artistes, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Urban Landscapes
Bankside Gallery, London, ‘Spring Exhibition’
Bankside Gallery, London, RWS ‘Autumn Exhibition’
Canvas Gallery, Winchester, Hants
Stark Gallery, Canterbury, Kent
GASP at Lakeside, Portsmouth, Hants
Art Space Open Studios, Portsmouth, Hants
2016
New Forest Centre, Lyndhurst, Hants,
Atelier Pete Codling, Southsea, Hants. ‘Sea’
Canvas Gallery, Winchester, Hants
Bankside Gallery, London ‘Mini Pics’
Bankside Gallery, London ‘Made in Colour’
Atelier Pete Codling, Southsea, Hants ‘Le Reve’
Kennaway House, Sidmouth, Devon
Carre d’artistes, Doha, Qatar
2015
Wykeham Gallery, Stockbridge, Hants
Dolby Gallery, Oundle, Northants
Bankside Gallery, London ‘Watercolour Etc’
Atelier Pete Codling, Southsea ‘Depiction5’
Smith and Williamson, Salisbury, Wilts
2014
‘Created in Portsmouth’, Open Studios
Rosemoor RHS, Devon. ‘Watercolours’
The Gallery, Cork Street, London W1 ‘United Society of Artists Open Exhibition’
Bankside Gallery ‘Off the Wall’
Kunstgalerie, Carre d’artistes. The Hague, Netherlands
Stark Gallery, Canterbury
Dolby Gallery, Oundle, Northants
2013
Bankside Gallery ‘The Mini Picture Show’
Brighton Art Fair
Bankside Gallery, ‘Watercolour Now’
Dolby Gallery, Oundle, Northamptonshire
Riverside Gallery, Barnes, London ‘Land, Sea and Sky’
Young Gallery, Salisbury ‘RWS Spring Exhibition’
Bankside Gallery, London ‘RWS Spring Exhibition’
Pelham House, Lewes ‘A Day in the Life of Pelham House’. Artist in Residence
Gallerytop, Matlock, Derbyshire ‘Landscapes’
Bell Fine Art, Winchester
Stark Gallery, Canterbury
2012
Affordable Art Fair 2012, London (with Bell Fine Art)
Bankside Gallery, London RWS. Mini Picture Show
Bankside Gallery, London. RWS Spring Exhibition
Stark Gallery, Canterbury.
Bell Fine Art, Winchester
Riverside Gallery, London
Carre d’artistes, London
Coach House Gallery. Alfriston, East Sussex
Bankside Gallery, London. ‘Picturing Britain’
Pelham House, Lewes. ‘Skies and Downland’
2011
Hop Gallery, Lewes, ‘Half Wild and Wholly Tame’
Foundry Gallery, ‘Lewes Artists United’
Artwave, Lansdown Gallery, Lewes,
Gallery North, Hailsham,
Royal Cornwall Museum, RWS Autumn Exhibition, Truro
Bankside Gallery, London RWS Spring Exhibition
Lansdown Gallery, Lewes, East Sussex
2010
Museo della Carta e della Filigrana, Fabriano, Italy
Bankside Gallery, London. RWS Spring Exhibition.
Webbs Road Fine Art, London
Bankside Gallery, RWS, Autumn Exhibition
Brighton Art Fair
Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, West Sussex St Joseph’s Open
Lansdown Gallery, Lewes, East Sussex.
Artwave Open Studios, Lewes, East Sussex
Riverside Gallery, London
Glasgow Arts Club, Scotland
2009
Webbs Road Fine Art, London
Bankside Gallery, London. The RWS Autumn Exhibition
Bankside Gallery, Mall Galleries, London. High Watermark RWS/RI
Galerie Carre d’artistes, Paris
St Stephens Arts Festival, London
Bankside Gallery, London. RWS Spring Exhibition
Mall Galleries, London. The Royal Society of British Artists
Webbs Road Fine Art, London
Windsor Contemporary Art Fair
2008
Manchester Buy Art Fair with Webbs Road Fine Art
Brighton Art Fair
Untitled Art Fair, London
Battersea Contemporary Art Fair, London
Hicks Gallery, London